Edmund Fabian memorial page

• Widow of slain missionary finds 'a place of peace' by Mark Winheld
• Worthy of our Sacrifice by Grace Fabian
• Email announcement of Edmund's death by Terry Blanchard

Widow of slain missionary finds 'a place of peace'

By MARK WINHELD

Grace Fabian, whose missionary husband was slain while translating the New Testament into a Pacific island language, could easily be excused if she were to carry to her grave the conviction that the loss was a meaningless curse.

Instead, with insight from the same source, she has made Edmund Fabian's death a gift.

The insight comes from the account in Mark 14:3-9 of the woman who poured out what would be the equivalent of a Mercedes-worth of perfume over Jesus' head.

&quotCouldn't I also, in a gesture of adoration and faith, offer my husband as a precious ointment to my Savior?" she asked in an article she wrote earlier this year in Word Alive, a Christian publication, about her husband's death on April 29, 1993, in Papua New Guinea.

German-born Edmund Fabian, who lived briefly in Binghamton, was 56 when he was slain by an ax-wielding New Guinean. The emotionally disturbed man was helping with the translation project that brought the Fabians to the Pacific island nation's remote highland jungles in 1969.

Grace Fabian 57, sat in the parsonage of Union Baptist Church in Endicott, which had helped sponsor the project, and spoke softly of her pilgrimage from pain to &quota place of peace."

She was very clear about what offering loss as a gift to God does, and doesn't mean.

It doesn't mean skipping horror, pain and grief because a dead loved one is in a better place as part of God's clear, wonderful plan. The effect typified in My baby drowned in the bathtub - Praise the Lord! is &quotbizarre," she said.

Nor, she added, does it mean deliberately seeking pain: &quotIt's our job to offer ourselves. It's His job to do what good he's going to do with that suffering."

What offering loss means, Grace Fabian said, is to acknowledge the pain and accept the temporary mystery of God's purpose - in gratitude for Christ's sacrifice and presence during one's own suffering, and to have faith in the ultimate goodness of God's purpose.

She, her son, Jonathan, and daughter-in-law, Amy, are spending a year of mission leave giving talks to churches and other groups before returning in June to Papua New Guinea for a four-year stint.

Grace and Edmund Fabian had to devise a written alphabet for Nabak, one of the nation's hundreds of language groups, before they could even start the translation. It's complete now, except for checks of four books and review for translation consistency.

Grace Fabian long ago forgave her husband's remorseful killer.

What may have changed the villagers' hearts more than all the classes, sermons, translations and everything else she and her husband ever did as missionaries, she said, was the simple act of returning: &quotWe came back to them in love and forgiveness."
printed in the Press & Sun Bulletin 12/18/1995 

Worthy of our Sacrifice

I remember waking up that morning in Papua New Guinea (PNG) with a happy tingling inside. At the breakfast table I remarked to my family, &quotIsn't it a beautiful day?"

My lightheartedness came mainly because just the previous day we had finished checking the Gospel of Luke, the longest book in the New Testament. The translation of the Nabak New Testament was right on schedule.

But that afternoon, April 29, 1993, my husband Edmund was senselessly murdered.

My mind often replays the scene. Milingnânge, our Nabak co-translator, sat beside Edmund as they translated I Corinthians 13, &quotIf I would be able to speak all the languages that different people on this earth speak, and if I would know the language which angels speak, but if I do not have loving insides, then I'm like a bell which makes noise...."

Unknown to Edmund, Milingnânge was experiencing tormenting auditory hallucinations. He jumped up and paced around the study. When he saw an axe in the corner among Edmund's tools, his confused mind thought he could use the axe to chop away the voices which screamed louder and louder inside his head. Only after striking Edmund's skull did Milingnânge's mind clear.

&quotOh, what have I done?!" he cried. &quotI have killed my brother!"

A SHOCKED FAMILY

We did ask &quotWhy?" but I didn't demand to know the secrets of eternity. I know that Edmund's death was not for nothing, but was God's intended result worth this much?

I thought back to our initial contact with the Nabak-speaking people. They asked us why we had come. We answered, &quotTo learn your language and translate God's talk."

They shrugged and asked, &quotWhy would you do that? We already have the Bible in another language." (Kate, a coastal language).

Edmund and I had come to Papua New Guinea full of dedication and youthful enthusiasm, but frankly, the Nabak language was more difficult than we had ever dreamed. The unexpected apathy of the people toward our project made it more like pulling teeth than &quotbringing in the sheaves."

Saying goodbye to our children as they left for college was wrenching. Just six years ago we helplessly watched our main co-translator, Kondo, die of liver cancer. And now this. We had come to &quotdo a number" on Papua New Guinea; instead Papua New Guinea was &quotdoing a number" on us.

INSIGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE

This story gave me a little glimpse into the heart of a woman who expressed her highest esteem for Jesus by lavishly pouring out what was precious to her. I felt embarrassment at my own stinginess and lack of love for Jesus. Couldn't I also, in a gesture of adoration and faith, offer my husband as a precious ointment to my Savior? Did I begrudge Him this? Would I insist, from my tiny human vantage point, on seeing proof to justify Edmund's death?

The more I pored over Scripture, the more I was overwhelmed with a deep sense of His worthiness. If I would never see a revival among the Nabak people or young people volunteering for the Bible translation movement, that wouldn't mean Edmund's death was wasted. No, Jesus is worthy because He created us and because He is the Lamb slain to redeem us (Revelation 4:11, 5:9). His worthiness is not dependent on our successes. I'm thankful for every evidence of God using Edmund's death to bring life to others. But however God chooses to work, I know nothing is too precious to pour out in devotion to Him. He is worthy!

Editor's Note: Milingnânge, the man who killed Edmund Fabian, was in jail and a hospital psychiatric ward for 20 months before his trial this past December ('94). At times while in jail his mind was clear, and he wrote Nabak hymns and did some translation checking. At the trial, a PNG judge suspended his sentence and sent him back to his extremely remote village.

Wycliffe member Grace Fabian is working to finish the final checking of the translated New Testament for PNG's Nabak people. They have already responded enthusiastically to a hymnbook and a video presentation of Luke's gospel in their language.

Email announcement of Edmund's death

At 7:15pm Papua New Guinea time on April 29th, 1993, Edmund Fabian, 56, died on the mission field in Papua New Guinea after serving the LORD there for over 23 years as a Bible Translator for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He was finishing up the New Testament of the Bible in the Nabak language for the nationals there. He and his wife, Grace, had raised their 4 children (Jonathan, born August 7, 1967; Dietlinde, born April 13, 1972; Kurt & Heidi, born September 16, 1978) on the field and had labored tirelessly learning the Nabak language from scratch, pointing to objects and looking inquisitive until a word was spoken, building an alphabet to enable a written language, learning the grammar, and finally, translating the precious Word of God into their language capturing the subtleties of the Greek and Hebrew language in the rich Nabak language.

Edmund, a German citizen, met Grace, an American citizen, in language training school in North Dakota. They married and began their work together with the support of many churches including the Union Bible Church of Endicott where they have spent furloughs. During his last furlough, Edmund became a naturalized American citizen. On January 3rd, 1993 their oldest son, Jonathan married Amy Pattison whom he met at Houghton College in New York from which both he and Dietlinde graduated. Many of the supporting churches contributed monies for Edmund, Grace, Kurt and Heidi to return to the states for the wedding as a present to the couple.

On April 29th, Edmund was working on First Corinthians 13 in his office in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea when his translator-helper, Milingnânge began hearing voices. This was a recurring problem for Milingnânge who had been emotionally disturbed for some time, though to what extent, no one realized. In one ear, he heard his wife crying out and had a dread feeling that something was happening to her. Later he began hearing his children crying in his other ear. Getting up, Milingnânge paced back and forth in the office to make the voices go away. He normally paced when struggling translating a scripture passage so Edmund thought nothing of it. The voices didn't go away but intensified. Milingnânge saw Edmund's axe and thought he could use it to cut the voices off so he picked it up. At this point he blacked out. When a loud crack awakened him the voices were gone and Edmund lay slumped back with the axe imbedded in his head. Filled with remorse, Milingnânge cried "I've killed my brother!" and ran to the police telling his story. Edmund was unconscious immediately and despite prompt medical care, died four and a half hours later without regaining consciousness. The mission board flew Jonathan and Dietlinde from New York to Papua New Guinea for the Memorial Service and the Loudonville Community Church flew Jonathan's wife, Amy to be with her husband. The Union Bible Church helped with stateside transportation and red-tape wrestling and many churches and individuals contributed funds that the family will use in scripture distribution when the Nabak translation is completed.